Sunita Williams In Good Spirits, Says Mom

WASHINGTON, DC (ANI) – Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams- piloted spacecraft carrying fellow NASA astronaut Barry’ Butch’ Williams was launched on June 5 toward the International Space Station from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida in a test flight that was hit with multiple delays.

Sunita’s mother, Bonnie Pandya, told NBC News hours before liftoff that her daughter was in good spirits and was “so happy about going.”

NASA said in an update on June 6 morning said that both Sunita and Butch Wilmore are hard at work performing initial tests on the Starliner spacecraft in orbit,

Starliner’s success will determine if the spacecraft will be certified to fly six-month astronaut missions to and from the ISS for NASA.

After a safe arrival at the space station, Wilmore and Williams will join the Expedition 71 crew of NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matt Dominick, Tracy C. Dyson, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.

“Two bold NASA astronauts are well on their way on this historic first test flight of a brand-new spacecraft,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson after the Starliner launch.